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Has CAFE reached the end of its usefulness? - READ ONLY

560 messages,  Last post on Dec 08, 2012 at 3:14 PM

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What is this discussion about? Fuel Efficiency (MPG)

Messages Page 56 of 57

#549 of 560 CAFE Standards Aim for High MPG by steve_ HOST

Nov 10, 2011 (12:45 pm)


 
FAQ: New Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards
 
Looks like we lost two decades in there.

#550 of 560 Re: CAFE Standards Aim for High MPG [steve_] by kcram HOST

Nov 12, 2011 (7:01 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Nov 10, 2011 12:45 pm)
We lost 25 years of fuel economy improvement because the government changed focus to safety improvement. In that time, NHTSA has mandated the high-mounted brake light, air bags, side-impact door beams, crash test standards, head restraints, tire pressure monitors, and a number of other items. The automakers told the government there'd be a trade-off, as some of what they wanted would create a weight increase - and power would increase so that the consumer would still get the performance they were accustomed to. Add in the repeal of the 55mph speed limit and customers needed cars to be able to reach 75+ as part of legal performance.
 
Except that the automakers raised the power bar far higher than it really needed to be. Performance cars in the mid 80s were considered to of the line with just 200hp. Now we have minivans approaching 300hp, and pickup trucks with 800 lb-ft of torque. (Just as a basis of comparison, the city-bus engine of choice in the 80s, the Detroit Diesel 6V92TA [9.0L turbocharged diesel V6], generated 753 lb-ft in most applications, moving a vehicle with an empty weight of 25,000 pounds.)
 
So now, the majority of vehicles sold today can snap off 7-second-or-less 0-60 times... while people are struggling to keep real-world mpg in the 20s.
 
With the new standards, the automakers are going to try the same tactic... "we'll make more fuel-efficient vehicles, but they'll have to be lighter, smaller, weaker, slower, and possibly less safe in some crashes." And the government will agree to that, and it will be the 80s all over again.
 
kcram - Pickups/Wagons/Vans+Minivans Host

#551 of 560 the new standard may be flawed by benjaminh

Nov 13, 2011 (6:21 am)

The president of Hyundai America, John K., has slammed the new standards because of their needless complexity and loopholes. He has a point. Essentially cars are held to a very strict standard, while large pickup trucks and SUVs are essentially given a complete pass and only need to make a small improvement, even by 2025. In other words, the unintended consequences of this might be to switch people from cars to large SUVs and Trucks.
 
I still believe in CAFE, but bummer on the loophole...
 
In terms of safety regs, it seems they have worked. Fatalities per passenger mile driven have dropped something like 70% since the 1960s...

#552 of 560 54.50 or fight by steve_ HOST

Nov 16, 2011 (2:52 pm)

"A new consumer survey by Consumer Reports finds that not only do most consumers want more fuel economy – no surprise there – but most also are willing to pay extra to get it as long as they will be rewarded with lower fuel and other operating costs during the years they own the vehicle.
 
The Consumer Reports poll seems to indicate that people now believe that gas prices aren’t going to be falling over the long term and likely will be rising. Indeed, of the 564 respondents who said they would consider an alternatively powered vehicle such as a hybrid of electric vehicle, 89 percent said that their prime motivation would be to lower their vehicle operating costs, including fuel costs."
 
Poll Finds We're Willing to Pay Extra For More MPG (AutoObserver)
 
Or ... maybe CR statistics are questionable?
 
"The rub is that consumers are not buying them – or at least not very many of them. In October, sales of small cars slowed and sales of advanced-drive vehicles (hybrids, electric cars, diesels, etc.) fell yet again in year-to-year comparisons, registering just barely over 2 percent of all U.S. vehicle sales".
 
Consumer Reports Survey Flawed (AutoObserver)

#553 of 560 and the rule is 54.5 by steve_ HOST

Nov 16, 2011 (2:59 pm)

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced aggressive new rules to raise the fuel efficiency of cars, SUVs and pickup trucks. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFÉ, standards require an automaker’s fleet of passenger vehicles to average 54.5 mpg by 2025.
 
The talked-about 2025 CAFE standard — usually described as 54.5 mpg — amounts to a figure of 36 mpg combined [highway and city driving] on a window sticker,” writes Dan Edmunds, director of vehicle testing at Edmunds.com, on the company’s detailed CAFÉ explainer."
 
Can Cars Meet the New 54 mpg CAFÉ Standards? Yes They Can (Sscientific American)

#554 of 560 it's already working by benjaminh

Nov 18, 2011 (6:50 am)

Looks what BMW has done with the new 2012 500 series:
 
528i
 
    2.0L 4-cyl. engine
    Automatic transmission
    Up to 23 cty/34 hwy mpg
 
Amazing. 20 years ago, in 1992, a BMW 525i got 15 in the city and 23 on the highway.
 
And the new car is actually larger, safer, and more powerful. I think that's a 32% increase in highway fuel economy. How did BMW do it? Through a small turbo 4 that has the power of a V-8 from 20 years ago, plus an 8 speed automatic transmission....

#555 of 560 not energy independent yet, but... by steve_ HOST

Nov 29, 2011 (6:48 pm)

"U.S. exports of gasoline, diesel and other oil-based fuels are soaring, putting the nation on track to be a net exporter of petroleum products in 2011 for the first time in 62 years.
 
A combination of booming demand from emerging markets and faltering domestic activity means the U.S. is exporting more fuel than it imports, upending the historical norm."
 
U.S. Nears Milestone: Net Fuel Exporter (Wall St. Journal)

#556 of 560 CAFE in the real-world ? by steve_ HOST

Feb 05, 2012 (12:33 pm)

Hot on the heels of the news about the Honda hybrid missing fuel economy advertising claims and losing lawsuits over it, comes this test from Popular Mechanics.
 
Mileage Moment of Truth: We Put 40 Mpg Claims to the Test
 
PM's results were a bit different from Consumer Watchdog's claims based on CR's testing. (prnewswire.com)

#557 of 560 Help CAFE by staying out of the café. by steve_ HOST

May 01, 2012 (7:24 am)

"Thanks to the starling rise in obesity, every year Americans consumer at least a billion gallons more gas today than they would if people were as trim as they were in 1960," says The Atlantic. "For every additional pound of passenger weight, the United States uses up another 39 million gallons of fuel each year."
 
Obesity is the Newest Fuel Economy Demon (Straightline)

#558 of 560 corn in the CAFE by steve_ HOST

Aug 18, 2012 (3:55 pm)

LaHood: 2025 fuel rules will be unveiled 'soon'
 
And a bit related:
 
Court tosses E15 challenge
 
(both links from the Detroit News)

Messages Page 56 of 57

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